National Weather Service Training
Center

Inactivation/Reactivation
of aCooperative Observing Site

In addition to the installation or
closing of a cooperative observing
site, you may need to change of the status of an active site to
"inactive" or "reactivate" an inactive site. The information
provided below is designed to help you with this process.

Inactivation

An operational National Weather Service (NWS) cooperative weather
station (CWS) may be placed in an "inactive
status" when situations develop in which scheduled
observations cannot be not taken for a short period of time but
scheduled observations are expected to resume.
A station may remain inactive for no
more than six months before being "reactivated" to
observation status.

Generally, a NWS Representative you must place a station in
inactive status if:

The period of observation continuity is
brokenwhich results in a scheduled chart or formto be
missing at the National Climatic Data Center.

and

These observations are expected to resume
within six months.

Examples of situations which might initiate the inactivation
process include:

Loss of an observer or disruption due to construction at the
site.

An extended trip taken by the official cooperative weather
observer (CWO) where no backup observer can be enlisted to
maintain continuity in the station's scheduled observations is
also an example of a situation which would require the NWS
Representative to make the station inactive.

An inability to recruit a replacement Cooperative Observer
for the station may also require inactivation; however, if the
NWS Representative responsible for the station determines that it
is unlikely that a suitable replacement observer can be recruited
in the area, the station becomes a candidate for closure or
automation.

If circumstances indicate that the
station is unlikely to or cannot return to active status by the
end of six months, the station should be "closed." For
example, if a station is placed in inactive status and four
months later you find that it cannot be reactivated for another
six months, the station should be closed as the inactive period
will extend well beyond the maximum inactivation period of six
months. The station can be "closed" through submission of a B-44
immediately after learning that the station will not be
reactivated. (Check our web page on
closing a station.)

If the closed station unexpectedly becomes ready to resume
operation at some time in the future, it must be opened as a new
station. As is done with any other newly established station, a
B-43 must be submitted through region so that a station number
can be issued by the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC).
(Check our web page on
installation of a station.) The
B-43 should indicate if the new station is compatible with the
closed station. If so, the NCDC could reauthorize the use of the
station number used before closing. However, only the NCDC has
the authority to make this determination. Should it be determined
that these data from the new station are incompatible with the
old data, it is likely that a totally new station number will be
assigned.

The decision to the close or
automate an official cooperative weather station rests
with the appropriate Regional Headquarters (RH). Only after
a review of NWS requirements and a thorough evaluation of the
criticality of the station's data to NWS operations will RH make
a determination. The NWS Representative is authorized to make a
station inactive but cannot close an official CWS. In fact, no
local NWS official can authorize closure of an official
Cooperative Weather Station without a Regionally approved B-43
(Request for Establishment or Change in Status of Cooperative
Station). The responsible NWS office must submit a B-43 to RH
requesting closure authorization. (Check the
station closure web page for
details). However, a B-43 is not required to inactivate a
station since the station is expected to resume operation within
six months.

It is also the responsibility of the appropriate NWS office to
prepare a B-44 (Cooperative Station
Report) to document inactivations. This process should
be completed in a timely manner in accordance with national,
regional and/or local NWS policy. This B-44 documenting the
inactivation of a station will inform the NCDC that there will be
a temporary break in the records for the station. Once notified,
the inactive station's monthly form will not be charged as
missing. Until NCDC is notified by B-44 that a
station is inactive, the NWS office will continue to be charged
for a missing form/report from the CWS. Therefore, it is of
utmost importance that B-44s are processed as soon as possible
after an event which causes a break in the station's records
receipt at NCDC.

Reactivation

An operational NWS cooperative weather station may be returned to
"active status" when observations resume. If the
station was closed rather than placed in an inactive status,
reactivation is not an option. The closed station was terminated
when closed. A closed station cannot be reopened and can only be
returned to an active status by opening it as a "new" station.
Only an inactivated station may be
reactivated.

As NWS Representative you may return an inactive CWO to active
status if:

The station's period of observation
continuity was brokenas a result of the station being
officially inactivated.

and

The reactivation will provide data
compatibilitywith data from the station prior to being
inactivated.

The NWS Representative responsible for reactivating the station
is also responsible for preparing the B-44 to document the
station's return to active status in a timely manner.